


She Keeps Me Warm

by ishouldbeworkingrightnow (notjustalittlegirl)



Category: Three Dark Crowns Series - Kendare Blake
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, F/F, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 10:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11552868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustalittlegirl/pseuds/ishouldbeworkingrightnow
Summary: After losing her hand, Elizabeth feels useless.Mirabella helps convince her otherwise.





	She Keeps Me Warm

**Author's Note:**

> I am making no money from this, it is purely for entertainment purposes. I don't own Three Dark Crowns, all rights go to the lovely Kendare Blake. 
> 
> Work title is the Mary Lambert song of the same name. Hope you enjoy!

Ever since the priestesses had cut off her hand, Elizabeth had needed help doing even the simplest things. She had been trying to relearn how to take care of herself, but found it completely ludicrous that she could still write but couldn’t even braid her own hair without help. 

Case in point, Mirabella, her Queen, was currently standing behind Elizabeth’s chair and running her hands, still so gentle, through her hair as she parted it into seperate sections to braid. Elizabeth sank down, wishing she could disappear into the very wood of the chair. She should be braiding Mirabella’s hair, not the other way around. 

As Mirabella twisted one section of hair around the others, Elizabeth apologized for what must have been the hundredth time that night. 

“I’m so sorry, Mira. You shouldn’t have to do this. I should be-” 

Mirabella didn’t even let her finish her sentence this time before interjecting with her own thoughts. 

“Don’t you dare say that you should be braiding my hair, Elizabeth! It’s my fault this happened to you, so the least I can do is braid your damn hair for you!” 

Elizabeth didn’t even bother to tell Mirabella that it hadn’t been her fault. The elemental queen had so convinced herself that it was, even though it had been Elizabeth’s own choices that had brought them here. 

“But- let me finish, Mirabella- you’re my Queen.  _ The  _ Queen! I should be serving you, not you me! I feel… I feel so useless now!” 

Any anger that Mirabella might have felt at Elizabeth’s insistence that she should be the one braiding her hair, and doing all manner of useless things that Mirabella could very well do herself while Elizabeth couldn’t, died on her tongue at the last sentence, replaced by a fierce protectiveness for the mental state of her friend.

“You are  _ not  _ useless, Elizabeth! You could never be useless!” 

“But-” 

“No!” Mirabella’s hands stopped moving in Elizabeth’s hair, and instead she went around to the other side of the table in the Westwoods’ kitchen and dragged it so that she was sitting and facing Elizabeth. 

“You may have only one hand, but you are  _ far from useless!  _ Even if you can’t braid my stupid hair, you’re still my friend, and I still care about you! You’re still smart, and you’re still the kindest person I know! Besides, one hand or not, no one can cook an egg like you can.” 

Mirabella’s attempt at humor drew a small smile from Elizabeth, and she leaned wrapped her one good arm around the Queen and drew her into a hug, which was fiercely reciprocated by Mirabella. She wrapped both of her arms around Elizabeth and then, slowly, as if she were afraid of her friend pulling away, took Elizabeth’s handless arm and drew it over her shoulder until the other girl was fully hugging her, stump where her hand used to be resting against Mirabella’s shoulder. 

Elizabeth stiffened for a moment, and then melted back into Mirabella’s arms, sighing into her dark hair.

“Thank you so much, Mira.”

When Elizabeth’s words reached her ears through the curtain that was made by their mingling hair, Mirabella felt a rush of  _ something,  _ something she couldn’t remember ever having felt before. It wasn’t simple friendship, since she had never felt anything like this when she hugged Bree. It wasn’t the love that sisters shared, since she remembered holding her sisters and never having felt anything like this. That left only one thing Mirabella could think of. 

She gently pulled out of the hug, her half braided hair falling around her face as she caught Elizabeth’s eyes. From the way the other girl looked back into her face, with a tenderness that she had only seen before when she was a small child, spying on Bree’s parents kissing, Mirabella knew that Elizabeth must be feeling something similar to what was quickly growing inside Mirabella’s own heart.

“Elizabeth,” she whispered, knowing that her friend would, even with Mirabella’s constant assurance that the other girl wasn’t any lesser than her just because she wasn’t some sort of damned Queen, probably not take the initiative. “Can I… Will you kiss me?” 

Elizabeth’s face broke out into the brilliant smile that Mirabella hadn’t seen on her face since she lost her hand. She leaned forward and her lips met Mirabella’s with a passion that could only be found in a first kiss. 

Elizabeth’s lips were sloppy on her own, but Mirabella pulled her closer anyway, unwilling to end the kiss until she absolutely had to, unwilling to let go of the electric euphoric feeling that she had never found wielding fire in an arc around her. 

Ultimately, it was the sound of something shattering on the floor that caused the two girls to jump apart. Only when they separated did Mirabella realize that she had migrated to the edge of her chair and was almost sitting on Elizabeth’s lap. 

They looked as one towards the door and saw Bree Westwood, recovering from her shock and bending down to pick up the pieces of the ceramic jug that she had dropped on the floor. The third girl’s face split into an almost giddy smile, and she bounced on the balls of her feet, sharp edges of the jug fragments close to cutting into her palms. 

“I knew it!”

Bree was practically giggling as she watched Mirabella and Elizabeth’s faces getting progressively redder and redder. 

“I thought you two would  _ never  _ figure out your own damn feelings, and that I might have to lock you in a closet together to get you to kiss!” 

Mirabella groaned. Bree was going to be simply  _ unbearable  _ tonight. 

It was, surprisingly, Elizabeth who spoke up while Mirabella continued to blush. 

“Goodbye, Bree.” 

Instead of looking vaguely offended, Bree’s grin only grew wider. 

“Have fun, lovebirds! Oh, and Elizabeth: Mira’s door locks, just so you know!” 

Bree skipped from the room, dropping the shards of the jug in the rubbish bin as she left, Mirabella and Elizabeth blushing impossibly redder. 

Once the sound of Bree’s footsteps had faded down the hallway, Mirabella turned back to Elizabeth and cupped her face in her hands, pulling her off her own chair to sit on Mirabella’s lap. 

“You know,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows in what she hoped was a seductive way. “Bree was right about my door locking.”

Elizabeth laughed and pressed her lips back against Mirabella’s. 

“Want to show me?” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment or kudos if you want! Thanks so much for reading!


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